Focus
Right-to-die judgment under siege
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Robin Stransham-Ford last week and In better days - Pics courtesy of Netwerk24[/caption]Despite a landmark North Gauteng High Court ruling in favour of a man who wanted his doctors to be granted permission to help him die, the 'right-to-die' remains elusive for South Africans who are terminally ill.
Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi's said giving doctors the right to end a life is 'dangerous' and that the Health Department will now join hands with the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development to appeal the judgment. The South African Medical Association (Sama) has warned that even if the law were to permit medical practitioners to help patients end their lives, the ethical rules of the Health Professions Council of SA (HPCSA) would not allow this and such a doctor would face disciplinary action.
Judge Hans Fabricius suggested Parliament should give ‘serious consideration’ to introducing a draft law legalising euthanasia.
This MedicalBrief report contains also access to the full judgment.
Robin Stransham-Ford last week and In better days - Pics courtesy of Netwerk24[/caption]Despite a landmark North Gauteng High Court ruling in favour of a man who wanted his doctors to be granted permission to help him die, the 'right-to-die' remains elusive for South Africans who are terminally ill.
Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi's said giving doctors the right to end a life is 'dangerous' and that the Health Department will now join hands with the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development to appeal the judgment. The South African Medical Association (Sama) has warned that even if the law were to permit medical practitioners to help patients end their lives, the ethical rules of the Health Professions Council of SA (HPCSA) would not allow this and such a doctor would face disciplinary action.
Judge Hans Fabricius suggested Parliament should give ‘serious consideration’ to introducing a draft law legalising euthanasia.
This MedicalBrief report contains also access to the full judgment.Heart stopping news for polygamists
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Pic courtesy of Timeslive
President Jabob Zuma with four of his wives[/caption]Polygamy increases the risk of heart disease by more than fourfold, reveals Saudi Arabian research. The risk and severity of heart disease increased with the number of wives. Dr Amin Daoulah, a cardiologist at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, whose multicentre observational study was presented at the Asian Pacific Society of Cardiology Congress 2015, said ‘This could be because the need to provide and maintain separate households multiplies the financial burden and emotional expense. Each household must be treated fairly and equally, and it seems likely that the stress of doing that for several spouses and possibly several families of children is considerable.’
Pic courtesy of TimeslivePresident Jabob Zuma with four of his wives[/caption]Polygamy increases the risk of heart disease by more than fourfold, reveals Saudi Arabian research. The risk and severity of heart disease increased with the number of wives. Dr Amin Daoulah, a cardiologist at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, whose multicentre observational study was presented at the Asian Pacific Society of Cardiology Congress 2015, said ‘This could be because the need to provide and maintain separate households multiplies the financial burden and emotional expense. Each household must be treated fairly and equally, and it seems likely that the stress of doing that for several spouses and possibly several families of children is considerable.’
50th International Liver Conference, Vienna, Austria
Some research highlights from the European Association for the Study of the Liver’s 50th International Liver Conference, including a potential cure for hepatitis B virus infections, with a promising new treatment proving 100% successful in pre-clinical models and new hepatitis C virus treatment guidelines.Fat Blocker moves to silence fact checker
Dr Harris Steinman, a medical doctor and consumer activist who runs a South African website exposing misleading claims about health products, has been forced to move his site offshore after sports supplement company USN demanded his internet service provider (ISP) take down his CAMcheck site because it was ‘unlawful’. Steinman has long been a thorn in the flesh of complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) manufacturers because of his success in using the Advertising Standards Authority to remove or change misleading advertising.
IT specialist Kevin Charleston says that this is the latest tactic by CAM manufacturers to silence critics. Some also were using intimidatory and expensive suits (so called SLAPP suits) to intimidate.The world’s men beat a path to Tygerberg’s door
The doctors at Tygerbeg Hospital who carried out the first successful p enis transplant on a patient who had a botched traditional circumcision, have been inundated with requests from men around the world who want to have the operation. Stellenbosch University doctors said the procedure could eventually be extended to men who have lost the organ from p enile cancer.
In other p enile research at King's College London, researchers reviewed studies of p enis measurements for more than 15,000 men, the largest collection yet, to come up with a graph that can be shown to men who wonder, or obsess over, how theirs measure up.